Big Mouth & Ugly Girl

At home, Ursula sees a TV news report on the bomb threat at Rocky River High. Upset by this and her performance in basketball, she emails Ms. Schultz and quits the team. At dinner, her mother feigns interest in a vegetarian dish Ursula made for herself. Ursula has been vegetarian now for years; she even used to eat separately from her family, since she did not like to sit at a table with people eating meat. She resumed participating in family meals since her father has so little time to eat with his family anyway, and would like to do it together with her. Lisa has also become a vegetarian, taking after her sister.

Ursula’s mother asks her about the game, but Ursula reveals little. Her mother discovers her injury and apologizes for missing the game, saying her schedule and the effort of “maintaining this house, my life” with her husband absent is “complicated” (52). Ursula believes her parents may be separating based on a conversation between them she overheard last summer.

At 10 o’clock Ursula’s mother sees the news; Matt is still unnamed as the accused. Distressed, she asks Ursula about it. Ursula insists the bomb threat is nothing more than a rumor but does not mention she witnessed Matt’s joke.